The state had owned Ecce Homo! (1896), the third painting in the trilogy, for years and acquired Christ Before Pilate (1881), another of the three, from Canada’s Art Gallery of Hamilton for 5.7 million US dollars in 2015, with funding from the National Bank of Hungary’s programme to buy national art treasures.

In 2015, talks between the Hungarian government and Pakh on the possible sale of Golgotha to the state fell through and Pakh signalled he was ready to have the painting removed from Debrecen’s Déri Museum.

The government later initiated a procedure to place Golgotha on a list of protected artworks to prevent it from being permanently removed from the country. Pakh in response ordered the painting to be veiled from public view.

In 2016, the Hungarian heritage authority decided to give Golgotha protected status. Pakh appealed the decision, but his claim was rejected.

The following year, the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, ordered a retrial in the case.

Last year, the government and Pakh entered into negotiations on the painting’s purchase.

Budapest, September 26 (MTI) - Preserving the Hungarian community in Croatia is an important objective for the Hungarian government, the state secretary for ethnic Hungarian communities abroad told a conference…

Budapest, March 8 (MTI) - Hungary's national heritage authority, the Forster Centre, has declared that Munkácsy's Golgotha painting should come under national protection in a non-appealable ruling, daily Magyar Idők…